4 ms·

Gitlab CEO: 'Remote work is just work'

53 points by kiyanwang 4y ago

avgDev 4y ago
I will not go back to the office, unless I cannot find a dev job that pays six figures if I get fired, which is frankly unlikely. I don't need $300k. I'm more productive at home anyway. I bet that most office workers could work 5-6 hours and complete their tasks faster than in the office. I hate the office, I hate pretending to be interested in some bs stories, I hate commuting. I want to maximize my time offline to spend time with my family and pursue other interests. I just like programming and working with a team that has the same goal and can stay focused. I don't care if someone is talking to me from a couch, kitchen, library or a coffee shop. I used to go to the office, and some people would come in for 6 hours and leave....and that didn't bother me either. If I'm not management I don't care if someone is doing 0 work, it is on management to measure performance. I'm sure when my time is up, I won't be thinking "man I really wish I could spend more time commuting or sitting in a cubicle".
- mbrodersen 4y ago
  Couldn’t agree more. Managers who measure time-spent-in-office instead of products/features delivered to paying customers should be fired for incompetency and the salary money saved should be spend on hiring more developers.
- senttoschool 4y ago
  Spoken like an introvert.
atonse 4y ago
Never ever want to return to a random office and desk if I can help it. But that’s not as bad as a commute. Never ever ever want to commute ever again. I hated it pre-pandemic and now it feels downright idiotic to waste two hours a day mindlessly driving. I hope I never have to out of desperation.
sschueller 4y ago
He is a bit of hypocrite when gitlab pays different depending on where you are located. So if you live in a poor place you get way less. So remote work isn't just work. It highly depends where you are. Equal pay for equal work and equal qualifications. No adjustments for where you are located. Your product costs the same all over the world. Pay your employees the same as well.
- jmathai 4y ago
  It doesn’t make sense for a company to pay NYC/SF wages to someone living in Bangladesh. It doesn’t make sense for a worker living in NYC/SF to accept a job paying Bangladesh wages. Not sure what the proposed alternative is besides only hiring people in the lowest cost of living areas - which also wouldn’t work in favor of the company.
  - sschueller 4y ago
    Yet it made sense to give people from Bangladesh visa to work in SF for SF wages before? It's an excuse for a company to save money on the back of workers. That's it.
    - jmathai 4y ago
      > Yet it made sense to give people from Bangladesh visa to work in SF for SF wages before? If they weren't set up for remote work and the employee being in SF was worth that amount - then yes. What I think people miss about "equal wages" is that it means everyone gets the lowest wage. Because, in most cases, the company has the leverage and their goal is to increase profits. Do I agree with that? Not really. But it's also not a reality I'm capable of changing. What "equal wages" does not mean is "everyone gets SF wages".
      - sschueller 4y ago
        I am not saying pay everyone SF wages but don't pay more or less. Pay every one the same if they have the same skill/output. If that means you can't hire people from SF then so be it. If you can only find people in SF to do the job you need then you are effectively paying everyone SF wages. I am specifically targeting Sass businesses that have global identical pricing for their products and don't incure any additional expenses if an employee remote works from SF vs Bangladesh.

53 points by kiyanwang 4y ago

I will not go back to the office, unless I cannot find a dev job that pays six figures if I get fired, which is frankly unlikely. I don't need $300k. I'm more productive at home anyway. I bet that most office workers could work 5-6 hours and complete their tasks faster than in the office. I hate the office, I hate pretending to be interested in some bs stories, I hate commuting. I want to maximize my time offline to spend time with my family and pursue other interests. I just like programming and working with a team that has the same goal and can stay focused. I don't care if someone is talking to me from a couch, kitchen, library or a coffee shop. I used to go to the office, and some people would come in for 6 hours and leave....and that didn't bother me either. If I'm not management I don't care if someone is doing 0 work, it is on management to measure performance. I'm sure when my time is up, I won't be thinking "man I really wish I could spend more time commuting or sitting in a cubicle".

mbrodersen 4y ago
Couldn’t agree more. Managers who measure time-spent-in-office instead of products/features delivered to paying customers should be fired for incompetency and the salary money saved should be spend on hiring more developers.
senttoschool 4y ago
Spoken like an introvert.

atonse 4y ago

Never ever want to return to a random office and desk if I can help it. But that’s not as bad as a commute. Never ever ever want to commute ever again. I hated it pre-pandemic and now it feels downright idiotic to waste two hours a day mindlessly driving. I hope I never have to out of desperation.

sschueller 4y ago

He is a bit of hypocrite when gitlab pays different depending on where you are located. So if you live in a poor place you get way less. So remote work isn't just work. It highly depends where you are. Equal pay for equal work and equal qualifications. No adjustments for where you are located. Your product costs the same all over the world. Pay your employees the same as well.

jmathai 4y ago
It doesn’t make sense for a company to pay NYC/SF wages to someone living in Bangladesh. It doesn’t make sense for a worker living in NYC/SF to accept a job paying Bangladesh wages. Not sure what the proposed alternative is besides only hiring people in the lowest cost of living areas - which also wouldn’t work in favor of the company.
- sschueller 4y ago
  Yet it made sense to give people from Bangladesh visa to work in SF for SF wages before? It's an excuse for a company to save money on the back of workers. That's it.
  - jmathai 4y ago
    > Yet it made sense to give people from Bangladesh visa to work in SF for SF wages before? If they weren't set up for remote work and the employee being in SF was worth that amount - then yes. What I think people miss about "equal wages" is that it means everyone gets the lowest wage. Because, in most cases, the company has the leverage and their goal is to increase profits. Do I agree with that? Not really. But it's also not a reality I'm capable of changing. What "equal wages" does not mean is "everyone gets SF wages".
    - sschueller 4y ago
      I am not saying pay everyone SF wages but don't pay more or less. Pay every one the same if they have the same skill/output. If that means you can't hire people from SF then so be it. If you can only find people in SF to do the job you need then you are effectively paying everyone SF wages. I am specifically targeting Sass businesses that have global identical pricing for their products and don't incure any additional expenses if an employee remote works from SF vs Bangladesh.